Bright
by SWA Windsong
Summary: Ametralia - several songs strung together. Jett is having a rough night and he is wishing he had his singing buddy from the apartment next door. Based on an AU from Awful AUs.


AN: Literally, part of this was due to the fact that I just couldn't sleep at all last night. I ended up taking this prompt and ran with it.

* * *

It had been such a long and awful day. Jett was finding it impossible to fall asleep. So he did what he usually does when life gets hard. He took a shower.

The scalding hot water poured over Jett's back, running over his head as he sat down in the combined shower/bathtub. It was just too much effort to stand up anymore. He'd spent the entire day at the hospital with his little brother, Kaelin who had been stuck with a platypus barb and had been screaming for hours from the pain. The echoes still rang in Jett's head and the images of the bruised flesh burned into his mind.

It had been all his fault. He should have known not to start messing with the poor critter, but it had been enthralling to watch it swim around and he had just been trying to get the thing to move. And of course, he had to bring his baby brother over to watch, like a dumbass. The doctors had said Kaelin would be fine, but they could only do so much for the pain.

There was nothing for it. Jett could only try and distract his brother which seemed to annoy Kaelin more than anything. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore and Jett went home. So here he was, sitting in the shower, trying to forget everything. The hot water burned the corners of his unblinking eyes as he sat staring at the cool tub floor.

It was nearly two in the morning. If it had been later in the day, Jett might have expected to hear his neighbor whom he had never met singing in the shower in the apartment next door. It would have been a nice distraction. They usually had fun with it. One time they even had a rap battle, although neither of them were very good and it mostly consisted of them saying any word they could possibly think of with no rhyme or reason to it. He smiled for the first time that day as he reminisced about some of their more ridiculous made up lines.

Oh well, maybe next time. Jett could still sing to himself, and he chose a soothing Owl City song. One that made the night seem less scary when he was all alone.

"You would not believe your eyes, if ten zillion fireflies, lit up the world as I fell asleep."

Without missing a beat, Jett heard his neighbor's clear tenor voice add.

"Cause they'd fill the open air, leave teardrops everywhere, you'd think me rude but I would just stand and stare."

Jett had never expected to hear that voice. The voice that he had sung so many songs with. Suddenly the water seemed more forgiving and the twinkling of water droplets on the curtains was almost pretty. It was more than Jett could have asked for to have his neighbor there at the moment.

They sang the entire song together and the sound of falling water echoed in the empty bathroom when they finished.

"Can't sleep?" Jett asked.

"No, been having a rough time." The voice replied.

"Me too." The thoughts from the day came flooding back into Jett's mind and he curled up on the bath tub floor, pressing his hands onto his eyes to stop himself from crying.

"Hey, would you…." The voice had caught Jett's attention before it trailed off.

"Yes?"

"Would you wanna go get something to eat? I'd rather not be alone right now."

Sweet, sweet relief flooded through Jett, releasing the knot that had been stuck in his chest all day. More than anything he didn't want to be alone either. He almost responded a little too enthusiastically.

"Please! I can't….I can't be alone either." Tears started to threaten his eyes once again. Please, dear voice, give Jett a way out of this miserable place.

"Meet you outside in ten."

Jett almost leapt out of the shower. Anything to get away from his own thoughts that were slowly driving him insane in the quiet apartment. He threw on the first set of clothes he could find that were laying on his open laundry hamper

He opened the door to his apartment just as his neighbor stepped outside of his own door and they turned simultaneously to face each other. The man was in his late teens or early twenties and was about Jett's height with striking blonde hair and even more brilliant blue eyes. To make him even more interesting, the person whom Jet only knew as the voice from the shower was wearing red and white stripped pajama bottoms with a blue shirt that had stars on it.

"Hey dude, glad to finally meet you, I'm Alfred." The man known as Alfred had started their introductions before Jett had had a chance to tear his gaze from the man's blinding smile. He'd never seen anything quite as white before, nor as blue as the man's eyes. Even the sky on a bright, sunny day paled in comparison.

"Hey." Jett was unprepared for the quick shift in emotion from feeling completely helpless to feeling like he had just had the best day of his life. If he didn't already know that he like this guy from their time singing together in the shower, he wouldn't have been prepared to do anything except stutter anyway. But he did know him in a way. "I'm Jett. That accent, it's not 'Strayan."

The man grinned widely again. "Nope, I'm from the greatest damn country in the whole world, the U. S. of A. baby! God bless America!"

Ok, maybe Jett and Alfred weren't going to get along. Suddenly the pajamas were making sense.

"I'm just joking. But that's the stereotype, right? I do have some sweet guns though. Wanna see?" Jett really couldn't tell if the man was joking anymore or not. He went from one stereotype to the next without a breath and it couldn't be real. But then again, the guy was wearing red, white, and blue pajamas.

"Uuuh." Was all Jett managed to get out before the blonde had flexed his arm to show off his muscles. Jett snorted loudly. Maybe this guy wasn't half bad.

"You got me. What's with the patriotic pajamas though?" Curiosity getting the better of Jett.

The man laughed, a short but boisterous laugh that made the hairs of the back of his neck stand on end.

"I just like fooling around. You know. Act all super patriotic when really I don't care." Jett laughed loudly. He should have known this guy had a good sense of humor from their shower sing-a-longs. Maybe it was the lack of sleeping rattling his brain.

"Alright, were did you wanna go? There's not a lot open this time of night. We don't have Waffle Houses like in America."

Alfred's face fell. "Oh, I didn't actually know. I'm just an exchange student, so I was hoping you knew of a place."

"Ok, well, you're hungry then?"

"All the time"

"Why don't you just come in, mate? I'm sure I've got something to eat."

They went back inside of Jett's apartment and he prepared a snack as Alfred shared his story. It seemed like the easiest thing to talk about at the time since neither one of them was prepared to hear the other one in the shower that morning.

"Honestly, there have been many so nights where I stayed up late, sitting in the bath tub thinking to myself. I really didn't expect to hear you tonight. But I've just had a rough time sleeping lately. I had a boyfriend back in the States, but he broke up with me soon after I left for Australia. The long distance thing didn't work out."

"Boyfriend?" Jett inquired. Nice to know, Jett thought to himself making a mental note. Alfred spent a short while explaining how they had met and why they had broken up as Jett listened to his story.

"I miss him though. He was kinda grumpy all the time, so maybe it's a good thing. He did have awful eyebrows though. I don't know. It's just hard. You get used to living your life one way and suddenly everything changes. But I didn't want to be held back. I wanted to see the world, you know? Really experience everything it had to offer while I still can." The look on Alfred's face was one of bliss mixed with longing. Jett could understand how difficult it must have been for Alfred, even if he'd never had quite the same experience. But he could understand losing someone and the thought of never seeing them again. His own experienced from the platypus incident still haunted him. He had had one too many thoughts of Kaelin dying.

"What about you?" Alfred asked, staring into his cup of milk. Jett had just finished spreading the Nutella on their sandwiches and was cleaning up before sitting down with Alfred.

His shoulder fell and he paused with the loaf of bread halfway to it's place on top of the fridge. "My brother's in the hospital." He spent the next few minutes explaining the situation. Alfred asking questions the whole time. It was slightly amusing that Alfred had thought platypus were totally harmless. The guy didn't know much about the Outback.

"Dude, I'm sorry." Alfred said as he inhaled his peanut butter and Nutella sandwich.

"It's ok, I've got some excellent company now." It was so nice to make Alfred smile when Jett was having such a hard time of it himself. But he had to give it to the guy, Alfred's smile was contagious, and Jett found that it was easier to forget about the things that had been bothering him.

"Oh hey! I have an idea! I haven't had any sweet tea since I came here! How about I make some for you?" Alfred leaned forward in his seat with the goofiest grin plastered on his face.

"Sure, mate. But, uuh, what's sweet tea?" Beyond just putting sugar in a cup of tea, Jett couldn't quite piece together what that phrase meant. Alfred laughed again.

"It's just cold tea with sugar in it. It's a southern thing in the States. Even some cities in Virginia don't have it. But it's a staple where I'm from. Wars have been fought over sweet tea." That made Jett pause.

"We don't want any wars here." Jett replied. He didn't know much about the Civil War in America, but if it had to do with the southern United States, Jett figured it might be related.

"Well, my mammy once hit my mom with a spoon when her iced tea won the blue ribbon at the state fair and grandma's got second." Alfred chuckled at that, "You should have seen her. I've never seen someone so angry at second place in all my life!"

They spent a good long while talking and telling each other stories while Alfred made the tea. Jett told Alfred about the time that he got bit by a tiger snake and other various incidents where he had gotten into trouble with nature and Alfred told him about life on a farm. About bailing hay and riding bulls and the simplicity he had come from. It was nearly three in the morning and Jett could hardly keep his eyes open anymore. He yawned loudly, stretching his arms and groaned at how the motion had pulled his back, waking him slightly.

"Thanks for coming over. It has been nice to have someone to talk to." Jett said, he wished he didn't have to go to bed. But it was getting so late. They would have stayed up all night if he hadn't of said something.

"Yeah, man. Thanks for feeding me. Hope your brother gets better!"

"Thanks." Jett showed Alfred out the door and turned to go back to his bed. When he laid down on the covers, he mentally kicked himself. He should have asked for Alfred's number.

* * *

The next few days passed in a haze. Between visiting the hospital and wrestling himself for being so stupid as to not get his neighbor's phone number, Jett had very little time to accomplish anything. Kaelin was on the mend though. It still hurt, but he wasn't screaming anymore and he had told Jett that he didn't blame him. Whether Jett believed it or not didn't matter so much. At least Kaelin didn't hate him. But Jett longed for the distraction that Alfred had provided.

It was after one of those long days at the hospital, playing games with Kaelin to get his mind off of the pain now that he wasn't as grumpy that Jett finally came home and running water for a shower. He examined himself in the mirror before jumping in. His face looked more taught and drawn, even from a few short days of stress. But he hadn't had much of a stomach for food. The most he had eaten was the sandwich from the night he had spent with Alfred. Jett opened his mouth and looked at his tongue which was slightly stained from all the tea he had been drinking. He had made a few more jugs after Alfred had showed him how to make sweet tea. It was the best relief he could get from the constant fretting since he had no way of contacting Alfred himself and every time he knocked on the door he received no answer. At least it reminded him of their night together.

Jett's breath started fogging up the mirror, mixing with the heat and steam from the shower and he backed away from the gray glass to step in the shower.

That's when he noticed a familiar tune being sung by his very own neighbor once again.

"I won't hesitate, no more, no more." Jett couldn't believe his ears. For the second time this week he had been surprised to hear his neighbor in the shower singing again. The voiced drifted through his small bathroom like a bird taking flight.

"I cannot wait."

Jett joined in loudly, "I'm yours."

Both of them laughed and Jett shouted, "Mate, where have you been! I need another man date with you!"

The voice shouted back, "School! I'm an exchange student remember!" Right, he had said that. Why on earth Jett would have assumed Alfred had nothing to do here, he wasn't quite sure. Must be something to do with the lack of sleep.

"Right, well get over here when you get the chance! I'll make you another sandwich." Jett's appetite was already starting to come back and his stomach grumbled loudly.

"Oh man, I'd love that….no homo!" Jett laughed again. He hadn't told Alfred yet.

"A little bit homo." There was a pause.

"Ok. A lot homo." The two laughed loudly with each other through the thin wall that had separated them for so many months, voices echoing down the hallway of the apartment complex.

* * *

Alfred woke up before his alarm had gone off. He smiled to himself and quickly pushed the button so that it did not start blaring in his ear, disturbing his good mood. Even though he had gone back home to the States after his program in Australia has ended, he had kept in contact and this morning was especially exciting. It was still pitch black outside, but Alfred happily rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Stumbling to the bathroom, Alfred grinned at himself in the mirror. He was wearing the same pajamas he had been wearing when he first met Jett. While brushing he teeth he started humming softly to himself.

He made his way to the basement, not bothering to change clothes first. It wasn't important, and really, the pajamas were almost fitting. Alfred kept up the tune he had been humming in the bathroom as he gathered a few snacks and beverages before setting out with a large bag filled with various items. He didn't have far to go, but he wanted to be comfortable since he figured he be sitting out there for a while.

A yawn stretched across his face as he began walking up the grassy slope near his home to an area where the trees were not as dense and there was a clearing on several sides of the horizon. The sky had begun to show the faintest hint of daybreak and was turning shades of blue and gray. The cool air slapped his face, catching his hair and tingling his scalp as it blew his locks around his face, helping him wake up. Alfred inhaled sharply, and even though no one was around, he had a huge grin on his face.

The hike had been exhausting, lugging the stupid telescope around was a chore, but Jett was more than happy to put forth the effort. He sighed as he lay down on the dry dirt, the sun was starting to set and the quite of the evening drifted around him. Jett had spent the day hiking to get as far away from civilization as possible. Alfred may have lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere, but Jett lived in the city, which wasn't going to work for what he was planning. He didn't mind though. It had been a pleasant hike since the skies were clear and although it was hot and humid and there wasn't much cover around, Jett found that it wasn't bothering him at all. Perhaps he was just used to it though.

He sat on a blanket, one that looked like an American flag. It was tacky, but it had been a gift and it reminded Jett of Alfred. Maybe other people thought it was stupid, but Jett just thought it was funny. The Americans really did put flags on everything and everywhere sometimes, and Jett didn't mind joining Alfred in making fun of it. All it took was a little explanation when people started staring, and it wasn't a big deal.

The sun slowly drifted down and Jett poured himself some of the sweet tea that he had become so accustomed to. He hadn't shared it with anyone, unless they asked him for a taste, but there was no point in trying to get them to drink the beverage. Sure, it was good, but its value did not lie in the fact that it was a particularly good drink to Jett. No, he liked it because Alfred had shown him how to make it. Alfred had even shown him how to make sun tea later while he was still around. It wouldn't have worked the first night they spent together, but when they began hanging out again, he had shown Jett all sorts of things you could do with the tea and even chastised him for putting sugar into the tea once it had already cooled.

Jett took out his phone and picked the song that he and Alfred had made together after Alfred had left. It was impossible not to at least talk to him every night, and their shenanigans had led to them singing a cover of a song together. Jett had recorded him singing, and then Alfred recorded himself singing backup and playing the guitar. They kept adding pieces until they had basically recreated the original song, but now it was their own version and it never failed to relax Jett.

Actually, it was the song that had led to this idea in the first place. It had taken maybe a week or so before Jett practically exploded over a video call to Alfred his idea. The day was still young when the idea came to him, and Alfred was already asleep, so he had to spend the entire day sending him messages about something he needed to tell Alfred about immediately when he woke up. It had been painful to wait an entire day, his heart pounding the entire time and it took him a long time to calm down once Alfred woke up and came online. Hearing how excited Alfred was about Jett's plan sent his heart soaring and Jett couldn't sleep that night as the thoughts of their plan were keeping him awake. So while Alfred was going about his day, Jett had stayed up and actually set out to figuring out how they could make this work. Looking up weather patterns and maps on constellations and sending them to Alfred when he found them. A week or so later, the day had arrived and Jett answered his phone when Skype started ringing, indicating that Alfred was calling him.

"You ready?" Jett asked

"I was born ready." He replied, enthusiasm coloring his voice. He still sounded pretty, even though the video quality on Jett's phone was pretty poor.

Jett trained his telescope on where Neptune was located in the sky. And a million miles away, Alfred did the same.

"Wow! It's so blue!" the voice on the phone said.

"I know! What color did you think it was going to be?" Jett asked. Surely Alfred didn't believe Neptune wasn't actually blue.

"I don't know, I just didn't realize planets had so many colors. I usually think of space as a huge black expanse." Alfred said and Jett smiled into the phone. The two gazed at Neptune for a minute until the silence was starting to get to Jett. The desire to hear Alfred's voice again was sickeningly sweet. It's not like they didn't talk all the time.

"What constellations can you see?" Jett asked.

"Well, I don't know what they all are really. Here hold on." Alfred pulled out his own phone so Jett assumed he was on his laptop talking to him.

Jett watched Alfred through his screen as he pointed the phone at the sky. "What are you doing?"

"I've got this app that tells me what the constellations are if I point it at them. I thought it would be nice to have for this morning." Alfred said grinning. Of course! Why hadn't Jett thought of that? He pulled out his phone and downloaded the app after Alfred told him the name.

"That one on the horizon to the East, I mean West from where you are. Pegasus. Can you see that one?" Not yet, it's showing up on my phone though, so maybe it just needs to be a little darker first. The sunlight hasn't fully left the sky yet.

"What about the one to the East then, it'll be darker on that side right? Hercules? Can you see that one?" Jett looked around the other direction, and grinned when he saw that the constellation was visible.

"Yeah, I see it!" He told Alfred, his heart fluttering in his chest.

"This is so cool. What an awesome idea!" The happiness that laced Alfred's voice was music to Jett's ears.

"We should do this more often." Jett said, leaning back onto his blanket and staring up at the black expanse that was slowly covering the sky, imagining how the sun was starting to light Alfred's side of the world in turn.

Suddenly, Jet saw a white light shoot across the sky where he's been looking at Hercules just second before he heard Alfred start screaming into the phone.

"DID YOU SEE THAT! PLEASE TELL ME YOU SAW IT!"

"I did! I saw it!" Alfred excitement was quickly turning into Jett's own.

"Now you have to make a wish."

Although he didn't tell Alfred out loud, it wasn't any secret what Jett had wished for.

* * *

Ok, so I will admit, I only did minor research on the constellation stuff. I'm fairly certain I saw something saying you can see Pegasus and Hercules from the Southern Hemisphere. I have no idea about Neptune. I only know you need a telescope to see it, but then it's easy to see if you know where to look. I see them swimming together a lot (Roman Mythology: Neptune) and it was the lyrics to the song, so I took a little bit of artistic license with it. The Pegasus and Hercules are kind of a vague representation of how I see these two losers together after I saw that you can see those constellations from almost anywhere (I could be wrong about this and I'm sure it's a yearly thing).


End file.
